The water in Lake Baikal, the cleanest and the deepest lake in the world, has dropped a record 40 cm to a sixty-year low for the past year and came near to the critical mark of 456 m., which can be followed by an ecocatastrophe. The Russian government has already introduced a state of emergency in the Irkutsk Region.

      Many experts fear that the drop in Baikal water could lead to water shortages in the city of Angarsk on the Angara River, which drains Lake Baikal. They also warn that the drop will also decimate fish stocks in adjoining lakes, destroy nests of migrating birds and lead to pit fires, but officials insist this will not happen. 

      However, the local officials insist that nothing dangerous will happen, as the melting snow in springtime will send the water level in the giant lake soaring up again. Some scientists support that opinion saying that a infrequent drop in the levels of water doesn't mean a total disaster and thata similar case happened at Baikal 60 years ago and caused no harm to the lake and its ecosystem.

      Lake Baikal is the deepest and oldest lake in the world, and the largest freshwater lake by volume. It contains about 20% of the world's fresh surface water — more water than all of the North American Great Lakes combined.